Increasingly, the strategic interventions of Africa’s gas giant, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited in the health sector is gaining tremendous traction and impacting lives across the country.

Apparently, the company has sustained firming up its drive to support relevant institutions and initiatives focused on upscaling healthcare delivery across the country, especially, in its core area of operations, its host community, from Bonny Island to Amadi-Ama to other communities.

The latest being the donation of a N381million Renal Centre to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt to support the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to boost healthcare delivery in Rivers State.

it is envisaged that the Hemo Dialysis and Transplant Centre in the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) will be built and equipped by the Nigeria LNG thus providing some rays of hope for citizens who hitherto could not afford to embark on medical tourism to India, United States, Germany, etc.

Buttressing the essence of this good hearted gesture while speaking at the signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the management of the hospital, Tony Attah, Nigeria LNG’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said his company was committed to supporting healthcare delivery in Rivers State, in line with its vision of “helping to build a better Nigeria”.

Recent statistics indicate that renal failure or better still chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global problem with increasing prevalence. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) accounts for 8% of all medical admissions and 42% of renal admissions in Nigeria. Screening for CKD facilitates early detection, evaluation, and treatment of CKD. Also, there is a dearth of community-based data on the magnitude of CKD in Nigeria. Obviously, these are frightening statistics, which underscore the need for urgent and impactful intervention as initiated by the Nigeria LNG.

Announcing another first that was in the process of being birthed, the Nigeria LNG CEO, who was represented by the General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Mrs. Eyono Fatayi-Williams, disclosed that the company was working in synergy with relevant stakeholders to make its primary host community, Bonny Island, Nigeria’s first malaria-free zone.

He stressed that to achieve this extraordinary feat, the company was investing in the Bonny Malaria Eradication Programme, which aims to cut down malaria-related mortality among women and children under five, and the Bonny Community Health Insurance Programme (BCHIP) to help improve access to quality healthcare services.

It is trite to note that the United States Embassy in Nigeria revealed in its Nigerian Fact Sheet that “Worldwide, malaria affects 3.3 billion people, or half of the world’s population, in 106 countries and territories. According to the document, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 216 million cases of malaria occurred in 2010, 81% in the African region. WHO estimates there were 655,000 malaria deaths in 2010, 91% in the African Region, and 86% were children under 5 years of age. It also identified malaria as the 3rd leading cause of death for children under five years worldwide, after pneumonia and diarrheal disease.

The document further states that “30 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa account for 90% of global malaria deaths. Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, and Uganda account for nearly 50% of the global malaria deaths. Malaria is the 2nd leading cause of death from infectious diseases in Africa, after HIV/AIDS. Almost 1 out of 5 deaths of children under 5 in Africa is due to malaria’.

“Malaria is a risk for 97% of Nigeria’s population. There are an estimated 100 million malaria cases with over 300,000 deaths per year in Nigeria. This compares with 215,000 deaths per year in Nigeria from HIV/AIDS. Malaria contributes to an estimated 11% of maternal mortality.”

It is against the background of these debilitating statistics that the Nigeria LNG’s interventions become understandable, especially, as Tony Attah stated that these interventions signified NLNG’s resolve to stand with the people of Rivers State and to reciprocate their goodwill and support to the Company over the years.

The donation is coming closely on the heels of the Company’s COVID-19 donations in medical equipment and supplies worth over N476 million to five states, namely Lagos, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Edo and Adamawa states as part of its contribution to the N11.4 billion Oil and Gas Industry Collaborative Initiative, spearheaded by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, NLNG made donations to the Rivers State Government; Bonny Local Government and residents of Bonny Island of medical supplies and materials worth about N1billion.

The company’s other interventions in Rivers State include training of medical personnel on Bonny Island, the base of its operations, donation of food items as palliatives to its host communities and the provision of a 24-bed treatment centre at the Bonny Zonal Hospital for residents of Bonny community.

Few corporate entities have shown such determined commitment to overall improvements in Nigeria’s beleaguered health sector like the Nigeria LNG as evidenced by the aforementioned antecedents. Even its initiative in making cooking gas available to majority of Nigerians, especially, in the grassroots, can be viewed from this perspective of ensuring a clean environment that supports the good health and wellbeing of Nigerians.